Traditional new product launch has included catching a new product as the development organization tossed it over the fence. Product marketing would dust off their launch check list and make sure that all the tactics were accomplished. They would book appearances at trade shows, write press releases, design data sheets, plan direct mail campaigns to current customers, research advertising opportunities in trade publications and other assorted tasks on the checklist. (more…)

All over the web and in all the product management communities, there are articles and discussions about gamification. If you’ve been offline for a while, gamification is about applying design and development efforts to software in a way to make it more engaging, more “fun.”

Not only have whole applications been born under the premise (i.e. Foursquare), but gamification has also had great impact in some of the more traditional business software, (ie. Salesforce.com) allowing for more interaction and amusement when performing daily tasks.

I’m all about having more fun in my interactions with technology, and can truly appreciate making the more mundane less so; but, I believe sometimes we have taken the concept of gamification too far. (more…)

If you are planning to attend – and there really is no reason you should not attend at least one – or present or simply don’t understand the concept and why you should engage, please visit some of my past posts on product camps on this site:

No doubt, in your role as a product professional – whether you are in product management or product marketing – you’ve been told, go out and get a market view. A view from someone that isn’t you or in your company; a view from someone who would pay for the product or service you are offering, if they had the problem. You could call it the outsidein view. (Okay, bad pun I know, but I couldn’t resist – it fits.)

Now it’s my turn.

For more than two years I’ve written for this blog, commenting on topics and issues I hear from fellow product professionals through following on Twitter, LinkedIn, and now Google +, or through meeting at product camps and networking, and from just my friends.

Now it’s your turn.

I have a long list of “agenda” topics which I can keep writing about, delivering my take on issues I see and hear are of interest and/or concern. But, what I care about is what YOU want to hear. What are the topics of interest to YOU. Where could YOU use the most experience, guidance or support? What problems are keeping YOU up at night? Bottom line, how can I help YOU?

I have a quick survey created. It’s 10 questions and takes no more than 3 minutes to complete. Will you please take the pause in your day and complete the survey? It will help me help YOU better.

Congrats!. You’re online. Now you’ve engaged in social media tools. The rise of social media has really revolutionized the tools I use to perform my product marketing role. Over the past years I have been using Twitter to really help make my life a little bit easier.

There are still a lot of comments that are flying back and forth about how to use Twitter for the best and biggest bang. The answer is simple – there is no one size fits all. Stop looking for it. Now more than ever, multiple people in your organization are engaged in social media. And, I support the notion that it is no longer a single source media – that it should be shared by multiple groups to support everyone’s goals.(more…)